Journey Home
by SheldorOfAlderaan
Summary: A Doctor/Rose REUNION FIC! (CANON) Rose hitches a ride back in time in her universe on a Weeping Angel so she can jump through the rift when it is first opened on Doomsday to find her Doctor and set everything right.
1. Chapter 1

My plan was simple, for an ape. Genius, if I did say so myself. I was stuck on the wrong side of the universe, with a Doctor. My Doctor, though, in some ways, not quite. I had decided as soon as he left our world that this wasn't how it was mean to end. There was no way to cross the void, the impenetrable barrier that sealed our worlds apart. We needed time. Time I didn't have.

The Duplicate Doctor, John, as I had taken to calling him had been trying to help me figure this out. There is no way the Doctor, err him -whatever- would have done this. Would have left me stranded in a different world with no way out. Not unless there would have been another way. We researched for hours. Pete's library was big, but we more than often, found ourselves in Torchwood, legs tangled between a stack of bookshelves, reading whatever we could find.

Months we had spent. They quickly turned to years, three exactly, but we never gave up. There was a way to put this right. There had to be.

And then, it came to me one afternoon. A story John had told me of. The Weeping Angels. It was brilliant. Beyond brilliant. And the best part is, I thought of it first. There was a way for me to get home.

For the past three years, it had become clear I was not aging. Torchwood had done tests, I had pushed my body to the brink. Burns, cuts, bullets. They didn't seem to hurt me. I was impenetrable, and it wasn't a coincidence. Not after everything I'd seen.  
Bad Wolf. I should have known it the moment we returned to that beach. I am the bad wolf. I create myself. We are one. There is no separation. I am it and it is me.

From what I could gather, John had a theory that didn't seem too far off. I was tied to the Tardis and the Tardis was tied to the Doctor. It would die when he did. So when he reached his final generation, so would I. Hundreds of years. It was the most bittersweet gift I could have asked for. An eternity without him. Could the universe be so cruel?

But I had finally found it. A way to get back. I was going home. And no one could stop me.


	2. Chapter 2

There was no way to cross the void now. Not in this time. Not after our worlds had been sealed. But I had thought of a way around it. I could still return to my timeline. I just had to get creative. I held the fabric of time and space in my head. I was time. I decided my fate.

When the Doctor told me about the Weeping Angels, I realized they were my only chance. If I could get them to take me back in time, far enough that I could wait until the Dalecks attack, I could find my doctor. I could go home. I loved John, but he and I both knew it wasn't the same. We made the preparations just before John got sick. Cancer, as it turned out. Only this time, he wouldn't regenerate.

"You know what you have to do, Rose. You have to find him. Find me. Go back."

"I love you, Doctor."

"I love you Rose Tyler."

I left the day after his funeral, vowing to find him again. I had seen the Doctor die, but never like this. The universe knew he wasn't supposed to be here. This was never supposed to happen. I put my head in my hands and sob.

As my limo pulled away from the cemetery, my hands clenched around the key the doctor had given me. The key to the TARDIS.

"I will find you," I swear to the Doctor. "You won't ever be alone. I will find you again."


	3. Chapter 3

Weeping Angels feed of potential energy. And as far as I know, I have the most potential for potential energy in this universe. I mean, when you think of it and factor in all the possibilities of everything I could do in this universe. Everything I could change. With the Bad Wolf, my powers, the ripple effect someone who isn't from this dimension could cause... With my whole family here to lose. There is potential in my absence. Enough for them to want to take me. Enough to make them want to send me back. I just have to find one first. Which is easier said than done.

Finding a weeping angel is harder than it of the quantum lock, their energy disappears when people quit watching them. But there is a place where I can find them. Six of them, if John was right. Which is why I find myself at Sally Sparrows house the next week, fist hovering behind a adorned red and green door. I realize it is almost Christmas. But before I can knock, the door flies open. And I catch Sally Sparrow, mid-laugh, a toddler on her hip rushing onto the porch, her husband right behind her.

"Oh," Sally says. She can't be older than 25, if even that. "Hello there."

"Hi, are you Sally Sparrow?"

"It's Nightingale, now actually. Four years." She says with a smile.

"Oh, congratulations."

"I'm so sorry. Where are my manners. I'm Sally and this is my husband Larry."

"My name is a Rose Tyler. I'm sorry to bother you so close to the holidays. But I was hoping you could help me with something. Something very important."

"How can we help?" Sally asks.

"I need to know how to find a Weeping Angel."


	4. Chapter 4

"Larry, take the baby inside. I need to speak with Rose."

"The movie is about to start, Sal."

"It's okay. This will only take a second," Sally says. "I thought we were done with this," she says when they are gone. I have a family now. I can't go galavanting about with homicidal stone psychopaths."

"I'm not asking you too. Please, Sally. I'm here for the Doctor. I need a way to get home and this may be the only way."

"I'll be back. Stay here," Sally says. "I'll only be a moment."

When Sally returns, she hands me a scrap of paper with an address on it. "Is he going to be okay?" Sally asks.

"My life depends on it," I say. "Thank you Sally Sparrow. Thank you for everything."

* * *

Two hundred miles later and a street sign that shows me the same address as the one on her slip of paper, I am staring at the parking garage Sally trapped the Weeping Angels so long ago. I bring my Torchwood badge, sure they will be guarding it. Getting in will be no problem. It was only the location I needed.

Is wipe my badge through the door and make my way down the elevator. There is a security camera above me and I smile at it. I have left letters for my parents that will arrive as soon as I have left. There is no easy way to say goodbye. My mother knows I will be happy. She knows I love her. All of them. They will be okay.

I take one last look at the camera, knowing my parents will see the footage eventually. "I love you mom. I love you all. I'm sorry it has to be this way. We will meet again. I know it." I blow them a kiss and when I am out of the elevator, a tear slides down my cheek. I brush it off, steeling myself for what I will need to do next.

When the elevator opens, two guards are guarding the entrance.

"Rose Tyler, Assistant Director of Torchwood," I say, showing them my badge. They let me through with no trouble. I walk toward the angels. The last thing I hear is them screaming at me to close my eyes, but I don't.

Before the white light envelops me, I smile. "Allons-y, boys."


	5. Chapter 5

When I arrive to my new time, it is a year before doomsday. I expect the 1700s or the 1380s. I never dream they will drop me so close to the place I need to go. They must want me gone quickly. The sooner I leave, the sooner they can feed.

I bide my time, waiting for the day I can jump back through the portal. I keep my badge for Torchwood. I loop it onto the same chain as my TARDIS key. I will need it to access the transporter. I use my time wisely, re-drawing my plan. Going over every detail. I will find my Doctor. I will keep my promise.

When the day comes, no one notices me when I walk through the Torchwood headquarters. There is mass chaos everywhere. Nose-to-clipboard scientists trying to figure out how to tear a whole through the universe without collapsing it. My familiar face goes unnoticed down he hallways. My badge doesn't look out of place. I may be a little older, but no one is looking close enough to tell. They don't question me, especially during this time. As I recall, I have been quite busy, under an enormous amount of stress. If my plan gets unhinged, it won't be by my staff. I am a girl on a mission.

I walk down the hall, through the doors to the room with the transporters. I sneak a glance to make sure the Rose from this time isn't here. I am correct in assuming my mom has forced me to eat lunch or take a coffee break. I don't have much time, so when I walk in, it is confident. I grab a transporter and take it out of the lab. They know who I am. They don't stop me.

I am outside the building before the alarm goes off. I know this time's Rose will be pissed someone impersonated her, but I don't care. I disable the tracker on the device and wait until she has made the jump.

I quickly follow after.


	6. Chapter 6

When the world stops spinning, I am on the other side. As soon as I am lucid, I smash the device against the ground. I am here and there is no going back. I am home.

I pick myself up off the ground, taking in my surroundings. The war is still going on outside, cast high in the clouds, miles away in a bruised over sky. I can't cross my own time stream here or interfere in anyway. There is no saving John, he is gone. But I will fulfill my promise. I will find my Doctor.

I am standing on a street in Surrey. Some houses are bolted shut, some doors are swung open, people looking gape-mouthed at the business overhead.

"What's going on?" One man asks me, panicked. "The sky looks infected."

I smile at the stranger, shaking my head. "It's nothing a Doctor can't fix. All will be well."

* * *

When the worst of it is over, I find myself standing in Torchwood headquarters. I have no idea how to get in touch with the Doctor, but knowing Jack Harkness, there is a way.  
His eyes are wide when he sees me, and before I know it there's a gun to my head.

"You don't want to do that," I say, my eyes glowing gold, but it is not me. "I gave you life, don't make me take it away." Jack Harkness' eyes go wide. I am one of the only people who know his secret.

"Rose? Is it really you? ROSE!"

But the the world goes dark before I can respond.


	7. Chapter 7

When I wake, I am in Torchwood. "What day is it?" I ask.

"You've been out for two days. You scared me there Rose."

"The fainting or my eyes sparking like an energizer bunny?"

"Both. How, Rose. How did you get back? We all thought you were gone."

"It's a long story, Jack. But it seems we both have time now, I suppose. I'm so sorry Jack. I never meant to-"

"Don't be. It had to be this way. We both know that."

"Where's your crew?"

"They're out on lunch. I thought you were Gwen, to tell you the truth. I wasn't quite expecting this."

"It took some careful planning. I'm sure you want to know what I've been up to. Where to begin..."

I tell Jack about getting stranded on the other side of the universe. How I tracked down Sally Sparrow -err, Nightingale and hitched a ride on a Weeping Angel.

"After I stole the Transmitter, I destroyed it. No one can send me back now. I'm here to stay," I say with a small smile. "But finding the Doctor is no easy task."

"What do you need me to do?"

"I need to find a woman named Donna Noble."


	8. Chapter 8

"How is this Donna Noble person supposed to help you if she can't even remember who you are?"

"The point isn't for her to remember me, the point is to help her remember her."  
Jack's eyebrow furrows. "I'm not following."

"I can heal her. When I absorbed the time vortex it changed my DNA. I'm the only one who can fix her. She's the Doctor's friend, so she's mine too."

"I only met Donna once, and it was during the Dalek attacks so we didn't exactly get to have tea and swap stories. But she's a good woman. She deserves to know the truth. I can give that to her."

"But won't that change the timeline."

I tap my head. "I am the timeline. I can change what I want, now. Within reason."

"I take it there's an explanation."

"Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey, etcetera."

When John stops driving, we are in front of a house. An woman is watering the flowers outside and I can see an older man through the window, his newsprint folded quarter-wise, a pen hovering over it. Geoff Noble. He must be doing the crossword.

"It's now or never."

Jack walks behind me and I wave from behind the fence. The Donna's mother doesn't recognize me, but she can tell we aren't from around here. (A/N: I can't remember if they ever crossed paths or not. Sorry... Also I fixed the typo from before.)

"Hello Sylvia, my name is Rose Tyler. I'm a friend of the Doctor's. I need to speak to you and Geoff about Donna."


	9. Chapter 9

When Sylvia and Geoff Noble have slipped away from the house, they looked panicked.

"Is everything alright?" Sylvia asks in a panicked voice. "Is Donna going to be okay."

"Yes, yes. Everything is fine. I am a friend of the Doctor's I can heal Donna. I'm here to make her normal again."

"But her brain won't be able to take it."

"No, which is why I will have to take back the knowledge from her head. Many years ago,

I was given a gift. I looked into the heart of the TARDIS and it looked into me. When that happened, it did something I can't explain. It changed my DNA. It made me impenetrable so I could carry the universe inside of me. Donna deserves to know the truth. Please let me help her."

"Donna!" Geoff calls from outside. Before long, there is a no-nonsense redhead walking down the steps.

"Someone call for me?"

"Hello, Donna. My name is Rose."

"Rose... Rose. You look awfully familiar. Have I seen you at the Temp Agency? This has Nerys written all over it-" she continues to babble.

"This will only hurt a second." I extend my hand and a brilliant light bursts from my hands. When Donna opens her eyes, she knows who I am.

"I know you," Donna says, eyes widened.

"It's good to see you again Donna."


	10. Chapter 10

"So let me get this straight. You got trapped in another dimension. Zapped yourself back in time with a psychopathic alien statues. Stole a galaxy seam-ripper. And now you're here? This definitely has Nerys written all over it."

"So I take it you're looking for the Doctor?" Geoff says.

"We are. But that's not why we came. I'm so sorry you had to forget Donna."

"The Doctor did what he had to do," Donna says.

"I may know a way you can get in contact with the Doctor," says Geoff. "I'll be right back."

"Do you have any idea what he's talking about?" Jack asks Sylvia.

"I'm as privy to sensitive information as you lot are," Sylvia replies.  
Donna shrugs. "Don't look at me. I just remembered what I did for the pet four years was a lie."

When Geoff comes back, he is holding his cell phone and it occurs to me: he has the Doctors number. How could I have been so stupid? John could have told me if I had just remembered to ask...

"The Doctor gave me this number to call if Donna was ever in trouble. We had a few close calls, but he's always come through."

Geoff extends his hands and my fingers wrap around the cordless phone. "I- thank you, Geoff. There is no way I will ever be able to repay you."

He looks at Donna with a wide smile. "You already have."


	11. Chapter 11

When Geoff hands me the phone I want to call the Doctor, but Jack tells me to let Geoff do it. He's right. If the Doctor hears me, he probably won't believe it's really me. I know I am not dialing the number myself, but my palms feel sweaty anyway. And when I hear his voice on the other end, I have to clamp my hand over my mouth so I won't say anything. I've missed his voice.

"...need you to come quickly Doctor. I can't explain in person, but it is very urgent that you come."

I hear the Doctor say something else to Geoff but I can't make out most if the conversation. When he hangs up, I am smiling.

A few minutes later, I can hear the sound of the TARDIS. It hums like a knife on a guitar string, screeching into visibility. That damned blue box. I've missed it.

I am running before the doors even open, and once they do, I crash into him. I am sobbing, my fingers clutching the Doctor's suit in fistfuls, holding him as tight as the day the Cybermen attacked.

"Rose... Rose. Is it really you?"

I smile. "I made my choice a long time ago, Doctor, and I am never gonna leave you."

His lips meet mine.

"Rose Tyler, I love you."


	12. Chapter 12

When Rose and the Doctor said their goodbyes, it was like nothing had ever changed. They were still them. Rose and her Doctor. She had missed this. Missed him.

"You know they seemed to get along," Rose said, arm around his as they walked back into the TARDIS. "You know until the whole 'Oi Spaceman, you're not matin' with me sunshine!'. I think they got on."

"I guess you missed the colossal slap she gave him later. Would've rivaled your mums it would. All of time and space before me and only one mother has ever slapped me."

"So what now, Doctor?" She said After they'd reached the console.

"Now," the Doctor said with that mad spark behind his eyes, "We go on an adventure. Anywhere Rose, it's all in front of us. You and me."

"Forever," she agreed. "I have a place in mind."

He smiled faintly, gripping her hand tighter in his. "I thought you might."

"Christmas Day: 2005."


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Sorry I just switched to third person on all of you guys. I'll probably go through and change the rest to third person as well. Also, any of you watch Sherlock? Is it good? Thanks for all the follows!

* * *

Rose waited until the past her had gone. She was waiting in the shadows. He wouldn't have seen her, not yet. But when he turned, she was there behind him, a mess of tousled brown hair, not ginger, but still hers. She gave a small smile and in an instant he lit up. And she knew the risk had been well worth it.

"Rose..."

She ran into his arms and he hugged her tightly. She hugged him back harder and they stood there for a minute saying nothing.

"I can't stay for long," Rose said. "But I needed to tell you something. This is not the end. We will find each other. We always do. Don't be sad. Me and you, forever, Doctor. I promised you, didn't I?"

"I've missed you Rose Tyler. I love you." He said it unflinchingly. Like he was afraid he would never get the chance again. She leaned forward, her lips meeting his.

"I love you too, Doctor."

"But how?" He breathed into her hair. It smelled like sunshine, gold and wispy, soft like her arms now wrapped around his neck.

"Spoilers, but I suppose River will fill you in on that," Rose smiles.

She gave him one last kiss before turning to walk around the corner. But before she reached the end: "Hey Doctor," she said, grin wide. "I bet you're gonna have a great year too."


End file.
